AUGUSTA — One woman is dead and a man injured following a single-vehicle crash early Sunday on Route 17/Eastern Avenue near Pleasant Hill Road.

Augusta Police identified the dead woman as the driver, Karen Schwartz, 21, and the injured passenger as Kasey Toothaker, 26, both of the same address in Weld.

Battalion Chief Steve Leach of the Augusta Fire Department said that agency was dispatched to the scene at 2:51 a.m. Sunday and found a car in the woods with the driver dead and a passenger with serious injuries.

Major Jared Mills, deputy chief of Augusta Police, said an accident reconstructionist from the Maine State Police was called to the scene and emergency responders were there for several hours.

Mills said the vehicle was traveling east on Route 17 when it left the road just prior to driving through the intersection.

The passenger was taken to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta and then taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland. A nursing supervisor there on Sunday afternoon said Toothaker was listed in critical condition.

The accident remains under investigation.

Toothaker at one point attended Cony High School in Augusta, and Augusta police said he was from the Augusta/Windsor area.

Published reports show that Schwartz was in the class of 2011 at Mt. Blue High School, Farmington.

Schwartz’s body was released to a funeral home, according to Augusta Police Sgt. Dan Boivin. The vehicle was a 2006 Pontiac G6.

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